Guest taken to hospital after metal object falls off TTD

Jeff said:

Knowing what the part looks like, I doubt very much that it ruined any of the track to the point it needed to be replaced.

Said most NASA engineers about foam and RCC panels.

The bracket is going to be (relatively) lightweight. I can't imagine that one bolt wouldn't be more than enough to hold it in place. However, if something were to happen to one of the two bolts, the bracket would no longer be balanced, and the remaining bolt would have to hold torque that plate is applying with friction alone. Having no idea how tight those bolts are supposed to be, its not out of the realm of possibility that one bolt wouldn't hold the bracket level. If the bracket starts rotating, then it could easily hit something.

Another possibility is that both bolts were in place, and the bracket collided with something that was out of place on the track. As far as figuring out what actually happened, we'll just have to wait for the report.

^if the bracket collided with something that was out of place on the track, wouldn't that have hindered the green train's ability to travel further down the track? You would think some of the riders would report feeling something weird, but to my knowledge no one has reported anything.

The plate is so small, I would think all it would do is make some noise to the riders. When you are on Dragster coming off the hill into the brake run the average person's adrenaline and dopamine response is so intense you are probably blissfully unaware of a clanging that probably lasted no more than a couple seconds at most.

A piece that (relatively) small is not going to hinder the train's momentum; which is why it got easily disengaged from the train per the train's power.

0g said:

Having no idea how tight those bolts are supposed to be, its not out of the realm of possibility that one bolt wouldn't hold the bracket level. If the bracket starts rotating, then it could easily hit something.

This sounds most likely what happened. Once the first bolt snapped (or whatever happened to it), possibly on the launch, the other bolt could have held the plate in place but once the train hit the bottom of the hill there could have been enough downward force to swing the plate down. Now it's in a position to hit track ties over the course of 25 feet before the last tie finally snapped it off, likely causing it to fly up in the air and allowing it to fall down into the queue.

Obviously showing my lack of knowledge of how coasters work, but I have a question.... Is it possible that this part on the green train was originally knocked out of place by a rollback? And then eventually enough vibration broke it loose completely?

Just wondering if once the train is launched, any mechanical part of the track behind the train lifts up, and during a rollback, the train hit the lifted part?

Sorry for my vague description of what I'm trying to ask.

I would say anything is possible. Most likely it had just worn off or come loose or whatever over multiple cycles and finally just came off

Been reading my posts from the past couple of days, and man am I doing a lot of hypothesizing. I'll let the inspectors figure this one out. It's making my brain hurt.....

The WKYC story posted yesterday mentions that the piece is in the possession of state investigators. Didn't the Department of Agriculture state in their little press conference just a day or two prior that Cedar Point was in possession of it?

Does it matter if WKYC got that detail right?

2020TpForSale said:

I'll let the inspectors figure this one out.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep….

No Jeff, of course not. It just seems like an odd error when that was one of the few pieces of information that there has been clarity on. It stuck out to me also because it was one of the first things mentioned in the story. When they're wrong on something right off the bat I tend to automatically be skeptical of everything else that follows.

RCMAC said:

2020TpForSale said:

I'll let the inspectors figure this one out.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep….

I’m doing good so far!

https://www.wkyc.com/article/entertainment/places/cedar-point/top-t...50ef94b0f6

Please.......they better not take this ride down. Accidents happen, it's a risk we all take when riding these rides. Mechanical devices will break down at some point, it's a fact. It's not like this was done intentionally by maintenance, it happens. I would speak differently if people were getting hurt all the time but that is not the case. Love how some people state "what else are they covering up?".

Seriously, sas long as I have know CP they have been up front with everything. Plus any accident is reported to the state so for someone to state "what else have they covered up" is asinine.

That's my opinion anyway.

That's some hard hitting news there. A completely different accident back in 2004, combined with this new accident, clearly show a pattern of Cedar Point not properly maintaining their rides... TAER IT DOWN!!!!1! /S

The way some of the social media channels are promoting this story makes it sound like it's seriously injuring people every year. It seems like a major reach to me to compare something that happened 17 years ago, with this recent incident.

This accident Combined with any previous ones is definitely no reason to dismantle the ride IMHO. Nascar has had mechanical failures of cars on the track and spectators have been injured / killed in the past. They don't stop Nascar races... People in the stands at baseball games have been injured / killed from Bats that break and Balls. The games still go on. in those examples they just found better ways to protect the spectators.

But if they are or were ever on the fence about it coming down for some new attraction anyway this could have potential to shift the decision. NASCAR and baseball dont get removed for new attractions it’s not quite the same thing. Coasters come and go every year.

The most telling quote for me was:

"James refused to sign and refused the park's offer for a free T-shirt. She and her friend did file a lawsuit against Cedar Point, however, they abandoned the lawsuit after two years without compensation."

I don't want to diminish James' experience in 2004, but it's extremely misleading for this article to mention that James filed a complaint given that she dismissed it without any settlement.

I am curious as to why there are not comments from people who where in the line. Any ideas?

MHW said:

I am curious as to why there are not comments from people who where in the line. Any ideas?

I saw a couple comments